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Meetings

“Trusted Source” author is club’s guest

David M. Poole, a journalist whose commitment to public disclosure revolutionized public understanding of money in Virginia politics, will speak at the February 12 meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club.

The presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m.  in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center and is open to all.

In his book “Trusted Source,” Poole explains how the nonprofit he founded — the Virginia Public Access Project — managed to address two major challenges of our times: the demise of newspapers and the declining faith in our institutions.

“In a time of deep cynicism in many public institutions, the Virginia Public Access Project remains an outlier, commanding trust across Virginia’s political spectrum. Over a quarter century, as its mission has grown from digitizing campaign contribution reports to offering citizens an array of information about the inner workings of government, the organization has retained broad political support,” Richmond journalist Margaret Edds wrote in her foreword to “Trusted Source.”

Copies of “Trusted Source” will be available for purchase at the meeting.

Poole is a Florida native who earned a degree in Soviet and Eastern European Studies from the University of North Carolina. Before he founded VPAP in 1997, Poole wrote for newspapers in Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Tampa, Fla. He and his wife, Clare, live in Richmond.

Follow the links below to learn more about VPAP and Poole’s book.

Virginia Public Access Project

“Trusted Source” book

Categories
Meetings

Learning about the semiquincentennial

The LOW Democrats’ January meeting on Jan. 8 featured a program by Julie Perry, director of economic development and tourism for Orange County. (Shown here with club Chair Sharon Campione). Perry described plans to observe the 250 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence during 2026 and explained the impact of tourism on the Orange County economy. Events for the semiquincentennial celebration include visits by a travelling museum of history, a passport program of historic sites in Virginia and an exhibit at Virginia Foothills Distillery near Barboursville about Elijah Craig, an Orange County Baptist minister who is credited with being the father of bourbon whiskey.

The video below tells some of the story of Orange County’s own Elijah Craig. More information is available at VA250.org.

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Meetings

Tourism director to speak

Julie Perry, director of economic development and tourism for Orange County, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on January 8 about the importance of tourism to the local economy and plans to celebrate the 250 anniversary of the nation’s birth in 2026.

The meeting will take place in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center. The program will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Perry joined Orange County’s marketing team in early 2022 after extensive tourism marketing experience with the City of Fredericksburg’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Her work related to the Edna Lewis Media Event and Menu Trail programs helped Orange County win state and national awards for excellence, concluding with the placement of a Virginia Department of Historic Resources Highway Marker in Lewis’s honor.

Perry has overseen steady growth in tourism awareness and engagement with the Orange Uncovered storytelling initiative, the Corks and Caps Craft Beverage Trail, and the Gordonsville Fried Chicken social marketing campaign with the platform Simply Southern.

She is a member of the Virginia Economic Developers Association and attended the Virginia Institute for Economic Development.

Under her leadership, Orange County saw the ribbon cutting for the MacMillian Publishing expansion, announced VA Brownfield Grant Awards for two property remediation efforts, received a Commonwealth Opportunity Fund Award from the Governor’s Office to incentivize the $41.2 million expansion of Aerojet Rocketdyne facilities, and put into motion Economic Development Authority (EDA) efforts to improve site-readiness in the Thomas E. Lee Industrial Park.

 According to data released by the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), visitor spending for Orange County exceeded $57.6 million in 2024, a 6 percent increase compared to 2023. During the same time frame, tourism-supported jobs in Orange totaled 520, while local tourism-related local taxes were $2.5 million.

 “Tourism here isn’t just economic,” Perry said in an interview upon her appointment as director, “It’s a celebration of legacy and lifestyle, and we’re proud to see that reflected in growing visitor engagement.”

Visit Orange County, Virginia

Think Orange, Virginia

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Club events

Virginia politics was on the menu

Journalist Jeff Schapiro congratulated local Democrats on their impressive victories in the the fall elections, but was careful to warn them not to get “too cocky.” Schapiro, a scholar from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, regaled attendees at the club’s annual holiday luncheon with anecdotes about his long experience as an observer of Old Dominion politics and his expectations for the success of Abigail Spanberger as Virginia’s first woman governor. More than 80 people attended the gala event at the Old House Vineyard in Culpeper County and saw a new slate of club officers be elected for the 2026 calendar year.

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Club events

Journalist to speak at Holiday Luncheon

Jeff Schapiro, one of Virginia’s most experienced and knowledgeable political observers, will address Lake of the Woods Democrats  at their annual Holiday Luncheon on December 11.

The festive year-end event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at the Kearney Pub at Old House Vineyards, 18351 Corkys Lane in Culpeper. Tickets for the luncheon cost $25 per person and can be purchased online. More information is available on this web page. Reservations must be made and payment received no later than Dec. 1.

Earlier this year, Schapiro joined the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia as a Center Scholar. The non-partisan Center for Politics promotes the value of politics and the importance of civic engagement. It operates on the principle that “government works better when politics works better, and politics works better when citizens are informed and involved participants.” The center was founded in 1998 by professor and political analyst Larry Sabato.

For nearly 45 years Schapiro was a political reporter for United Press International, Virginia Business magazine,  and The Richmond Times-Dispatch,  earning him a statewide reputation as one of the Commonwealth’s most respected journalists.  His years on the beat — as a reporter and a columnist — parallel Virginia’s emergence as a competitive state prized by both political parties as well as the nationalization of its politics.

In 2015 Schapiro was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture. He is also a member of the Virginia Capitol Correspondents Association Hall of Fame.

Schapiro has spoken about Virginia politics at colleges and universities across the Commonwealth and before civic, professional and business organizations. He has appeared on C-SPAN, BBC, NPR and American cable news outlets and podcasts.

Since 2001, he has appeared Friday mornings on Virginia public radio, most recently on Roanoke-based Radio IQ, In partnership with commentator Michael Pope he appears regularly on Virginia Public Radio.

Schapiro is a native of New York City and a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor’s degree in history.

He and his wife, Clare, a food and culture writer for several Virginia newspapers and magazines, were married in Richmond in 1988 by Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas. They are the parents of an adult son.

UVa’s Center for Politics

Pope & Schapiro Radio Program